For Immediate Release
June 18, 2003
Contact: Jesse Rutledge, N.C. Center for Voter Education,
(919) 839-1200
Ed Wilson Named New Chairman of N.C. Center for Voter Education
RALEIGH – At its June Board meeting, officers of the North Carolina Center for Voter Education elected NC Superior Court Judge Ed Wilson of Eden to replace Robert Morgan as the organization's new Chairman.
Morgan, the former US Senator and NC Attorney General, stepped down after serving as the organization's top executive since it opened its doors in January of 2000. Judge Wilson has served on the Center's board since June of 2001.
"I'm immensely proud of the work that this organization has undertaken, and I am honored to have had the chance to lead its efforts at campaign and election reform over the past three and a half years," said Morgan. "But it's time to turn things over to a new generation of North Carolina leaders, and Ed Wilson is ready to seize the reigns of the Center and to continue to steer it in the right direction."
The NC Center for Voter Education is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality and responsiveness of the North Carolina election system through public education and research.
The Center is particularly known for the leadership it offered in promoting the state's innovative judicial campaign reform plan, adopted by the state legislature in 2002. That legislation will make North Carolina's statewide judicial contests nonpartisan, create voter guides for citizens about judicial candidates, and bring publicly financed elections to statewide appellate court races in 2004, the first such program in the nation.
Morgan has led the Center's efforts since its inception, bringing immense credibility to the campaign finance reform movement effort in North Carolina. He has been an outspoken voice for returning influence over government to the voters and making elected office more accessible to the average citizen.
In addition to being the executive officer of the Center, Morgan has written letters and editorials, spoken at events and traveled across the state to promote the Center's work. In his new role of Chairman Emeritus, Morgan will continue to play a public role in the campaign for reform. He sees Judge Wilson as a impressive successor.
"I have every confidence that Judge Wilson will apply the intelligence, enthusiasm and energy that he has ably demonstrated in his civic affairs to his new post as the Center's Chairman," Morgan added.
Ed Wilson was an attorney in Eden until Governor Easley appointed Wilson to the Superior Court in May. Wilson has been actively involved in civic affairs across North Carolina for more than a decade, and ran for Lieutenant Governor in 2000. He is a native of Winston-Salem and a graduate of the University of Virginia and the Wake Forest University School of Law.
The Center also added two new members to its Board.
Wanda Bryant is a Judge with the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Since earning her JD from North Carolina Central University in 1982, Judge Bryant served as an Assistant United States attorney in Washington, DC and as head of the Citizen Rights Division in the NC Attorney General's office. Judge Bryant is a native of Brunswick County, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Raleigh.
Joseph Kilpatrick is a consultant specializing in strategic planning, organizational development, and fundraising assistance, primarily with nonprofit groups. He is a former Assistant Director with the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. Kilpatrick lives in Walkertown, North Carolina.
The addition of Bryant and Kilpatrick brings the number of members on the Center's Board to seven. Other members include Lori Ann Harris, a government relations specialist, Jack Smith, Mayor Pro Tem of the Town of Cary, and UNC Vice President and General Counsel Leslie Winner.
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743 W. Johnson St.
Suite E
Raleigh, NC 27603
919.839.1200